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In mid June, I wrote to my team at REVA and appealed to all our stakeholders as follows….
While coping with COVID has emerged to be the New Normal and all of us are set with coping mechanisms for the days and months ahead, our country has been challenged differently. Our young soldiers have been killed by a power-hungry country. The Line of Control has witnessed the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the greed to gain inches of ground from our country. Border disputes is something that we have learnt to live with over the years and the Indian army has been guarding us selflessly from all intrusions. While all of us sleep peacefully in the shelter of our homes, our soldiers have been guarding our borders in order to ensure we are safe in our Motherland. The least we can do is to boycott China-made products. While at the country level, our leaders will take a decision on the stand of our country, as responsible citizens when you look around you I am sure you will see that all of us are addicted to China-made products. It could be consumer goods, smartphones, vehicles, other electronic goods, we could ensure that we conscientiously avoid using these products. History has it that Gandhiji called for the Quit India Movement and all foreign-made goods were rejected as a protest to free our country. As responsible Indians we can be alert about how to in our small way show solidarity to our Motherland by avoiding usage or buying of China-made goods. These were my initial lines after the first attack on our brave soldiers. I reiterate my thoughts in this blog…
These are historic times that we are facing again after the Quit India movement. We were together then as we got together for our country. Our grandfathers and fathers were a part of that movement and we are today a part of this movement where our sovereignty needs to be guarded. Braving the climatic challenges, our soldiers are guarding our country borders.
They did this for us in 1962 and they are doing it again for us. And the least we can do is to be consciously aware of our duties towards our country and stand by our leader during these times…leaving aside political influences and thoughts.
Our economic rise has surfaced a lot of enemies for us across the world and China has always been threatened by us. Our border disputes have worsened this situation for us and especially with China. The Government’s decision to ban 59 apps is a strong signal of our disapproval and zero tolerance for these border invasions. Our youth have been highly dependent on these apps and have always had that hunger for these apps in these devices. We at REVA were probably the first University to write to our students personally and insist that they not use Chinese consumer goods or products. This first action of ours was endorsed by the strong stand taken by the Government. Am sure a ban on physical goods and technology on which we are so heavily dependent is going to affect the Indian Economy….aligning with Government orders for the good of the nation is a must. Hence the next big challenge that lies ahead of our country, is that we need to garner talent, resources and money apart from a larger investment in terms of time from each citizen of the country to scale ourselves and prevent our economy from collapse. This will also form a part of the New Normal and our minds need to be doubly aware of our orientation towards battling COVID and battling China.
We need to think progressively, we need to establish and groom strong entrepreneurs. We will need cooperation from all stakeholders, we need to build a safe and secure domestic economy and ensure health is equally guarded and the spread of the pandemic is contained. We need to look positively at the slump that surrounds us and build a climate in our workspaces, where each of us thinks of a larger goal and start working towards this larger goal…therefore I say we need to learn from our Experiences, Explore what the future holds for us and Excel in all that we do @ REVA.
Dr P Shyama Raju
Chancellor
REVA University
